1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, particularly, to an image processing apparatus including a function for transferring an image photographed by a camera, and the like to an external device through a communication line such as a portable telephone line or the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in a digital camera mounting a wireless LAN function, a portable telephone with a camera, and the like, it has been possible to transmit an image photographed by a camera to an external device not through other device such as a personal computer by utilizing a communication line such as a portable telephone line and the Internet. Thus, it has been easy to release an image photographed by a user to the general public persons, so that such a possibility has been induced that the personal privacy of an unspecified person unintentionally appearing in a photographed image is violated.
The following technologies are proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-62560 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-46745 as technologies which do not release persons and objects appearing in a photographed image. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-62560 discloses an apparatus which detects a face image from an image photographed by a camera, compares the detected face image with a face image of a previously-registered specific person, when the face images correspond to each other, does not mask (abstract) the face image, and when the face images do not correspond to each other, masks the face image.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-46745 discloses an image processing apparatus which accumulates images, when an image is required to be transmitted from an operation terminal, masks a required part of an image to be transmitted, and changes content of the masking (the largeness of a masked area, and the like) depending on the level of a user using the operation terminal.